The Moon's Mask: The Cuccoo Lady's Story
by Chaz E. Mataz
Summary: Long, long ago, in a land called Hyrule, a peasant with an unhealthy obsession with cuccoos named Anju had an experience that changed her life, and it changed the way people looked at life forever. This is her story.
1. Chapter 1

**The Moon's Mask: The Cuccoo Lady's Story**

Chapter 1: Cuccoo For Cuccoo's

Anju Stocker was known around Kakrikaro Village as "The Cuccoo Lady". Why? Because she was obsessed with cuccoos. 

Unfortunatly, every day she lost them. Every day she would go through having to hunt them down and bring them back to her pen. Her husband, Alfonso, thought she was a little cuccoo herself. She didn't really care. She would take her cuccoos into her house every night. Her husband hated it, but he knew that she would rather file for divorce than have to get rid of her precious cuccoos. She had names for each of them, seperate birthday parties for each of them, could always tell them apart, and always let them come in to have parties with her.

One day, her life changed forever.

And it changed the way people looked at life.

This is her story.

It was a day not unlike any other. The sun was shining brightly in the sky. Death Mountain loomed menacingly overhead. Beautiful, billowing white clouds floated overhead.

Anju looked up at the wonderful sky, and sighed. "Such a wonderful day," she said to herself.

Then she looked down at her cuccoos. They were missing. She screamed in terror, like she did everyday, as if it were some huge surprise. She looked around. One was just in front of her. She ran as fast as she could in her heels and took off after it. She caught it and threw it back in the cage. It squaked about in shock. "Okay, Mildred is in the cage." She usually had a clipboard with her to tick off which ones she found, but she had forgotten it inside the house. She turned around and walked inside. She saw her clipboard on the table, right next to a note. She picked up the note, and read it.

Dear Anju,

Gone to Market Town to go shopping. There is a good deal on salmon, and you know how I feel about salmon!

Love,

Alfonso

Anju threw the note away and picked up the clipboard and walked outside. She saw a cuccoo fly right in front of her, and she grabbed it just in time. She carried it to the pen, and threw it in. "Okay, Hubert is back safe and sound," she said, ticking off his and Mildred's name on her clipboard. Just then, she saw a boy poking a cuccoo with a stick. Anju gasped and ran over to him. She picked up her cuccoo, and hugged it. "Hey lady, give me back my cuccoo!" The boy said. Anju glared at him. "Pardon? Yours? He is mine!" She snapped. The boy wagged the stick in front of her face. "Listen, cuccoo lady," he said, "the cuccoo is mine, you understand, bitch?" Anju gasped at having been called that. By a little kid too! "What disrespect! What are your parents teaching you, boy? How dare you talk like that to an adult! Who is your mother? I'd like to have a talk with her about your behavior!" Anju yelled. The boy grinned. "No, I ain't telling you. And you can't make me!" He giggled and ran away. Anju rolled her eyes, and went back and threw the cuccoo back into the pen.

She checked off Penny's name.

Just then, she saw a cuccoo run off towards the village gates. Anju took off after it. "Bob! No!" She screamed. Suddenly, an old hobbo came up in front of her. He was dressed in dirty old rags and his breath smelled like beer. "Hey there, babe!" He grabbed her breasts. Anju screamed, and smacked him across the face as hard as she could. She saw she left a big red mark on his face. Satisfied, she grinned and walked away, but not before shouting "Get a j-o-b, you old loser!"

She continued pursuing the cuccoo. She was almost caught up to it, but it flew to the city gates, and went out.

Anju gasped. "No!" She said. She had no choice. 

She ran out the gates, and followed Bob down the steps.

Anju pursued him across Hyrule Field. Around and around she went, chasing Bob the cuccoo. He wasn't particularily fast, but he was still faster than a 40 year old woman in high heels and a skirt, so he easily outrunned Anju.

Anju, meanwhile, was hot, sweaty, and tired. She stopped frequently to catch her breath, sitting on a tree stump, or on the ground. A few times she had to outrun the Peahats who occassionally flew up out of the ground and attacked her. She finnally saw it run into a small area near woods. "Uh-oh..." Anju said.

She did not want to go into the Lost Woods. She had heard terrible tales of it. Her brother, Injrid, left for the Lost Woods 5 years ago.

He was never heard from again.

She sighed as she remembered the last time she had heard from him.

_"Injrid! No! Don't go!" Anju cried. Injrid, a pale, 20 year old man with a mohawk, was walking out the door of Anju's house._

_Injrid turned back around to her. "Anju, my darling Anju. I must go. Hunting is my life, my soul, my inspiration. Just like your inspiration is cuccoos.I must go to the Lost Woods. I will bring back a good chunk of meat for you to cook. Do not weep for me. I will be back within the week."_

_However, he did not come back. Anju met a curious (and good looking) young man with a green hat on who rescued her cuccoos for her. Flattered, she gave him a cuccoo egg. When it hatched, she told him to go and look for her brother Injrid in the Lost Woods. He agreed._

_A day later..._

_He brought unfortunate news home..._

_Injrid had dissapeared. He had found him, but he needed medicene, and fast. So the boy complied, and when he went back, Injrid was gone._

_Anju had never wept so much in her whole life._

Anju snapped back to reality. Her cuccoo was entering the Lost Woods! She screamed.

She followed Bob into the Lost Woods.

It was a choice that she would soon regret.

By, Chaz E. Mataz

Oh, did I do good? I dont like to brag, but I already have an ending planned for this, and its phenominal. I was never very creative, and I surprised myself. But it makes PERFECT sense, and has to do with a future Legend Of Zelda game. Keep reading, and please review!

I'll have the second part up by Wednesday!


	2. Lost In Time

**The Moon's Mask: The Cuccoo Lady's Story**

CHAPTER II: Lost In Time

Anju hesitatingly followed her cuccoo Bob into the Lost Woods. Memories of her brother Injrid flooded her mind. She followed Bob over a bridge, and into a clearing. She chased him around and around. It felt as if she was going in circles. She could have sworn that the same clearing came up over 15 different times. Finnally, she followed him into a clearing, and he perched down in the middle of it. Anju snuck up behind him, and grabbed him. "Gotcha!" She screamed.

It was then that she realized just what a predicament she had gotten herself into.

Firstly, she had no weapons. What if a monster were to sneak up on her and attack? What would she do? She would run. And likely get even more lost than she was. Secondly, she was a long way from Kakrikaro Village; she had been gone for at least 4 and a half hours chasing that damn cuccoo around. Her husband was probably worried sick about her. She had left no note for him, so he would not know where she had gone. And thirdly, worst of all, she was lost. Lost in the Lost Woods. Possibly the worst place in all of Hyrule to be lost in. Why hadn't she thought to remeber what passages she went through? Had she no brain? Her love for her cuccoos has gotten in the way of her good judgement. She hoped that if she never made it back (which she didn't want to think about) Alfonso would take good care of her cuccoos.

Anju couldn't take it anymore. She sat down on a nearby tree stump and cried. Bob sat down watching her inquisitivly. After about 5 minutes of crying, she opened her eyes, and screamed. An imp was standing right in front of her. The imp had a frightening mask on. It struck horror into Anju's heart. Her eyes grew wide. Anju stared at it. "Erm...hello there, l-little f-f-fellow." She stuttered. "I-I seem to b-be l-lost. Can you h-h-help me?" The imp laughed. Anju grew angry. "What's so funny?" She demanded. Bob was going beserk. She held the struggling cuccoo in her arms. "Stop it, Bob!" She muttered. The imp grabbed her hand. "Where are you taking me?" She asked. She had no choice but to follow the little imp with the scary mask on.

Through the Lost Woods the three of them went. A motley crew indeed: A middle aged woman, a cuccoo, and an imp all walking together through the Lost Woods. After they walked for what seemed like an hour, Anju said "Where are you taking us?" again. No answer. After a few more clearings, the imp stopped. Anju let out a sigh of relief. "So, are we out of the woods yet?" She asked. No answer again. "Excuse me?" Anju asked. Still no answer. The imp grabed her hand and began walking through a hole in the ground. "Answer me!" Anju shrieked. No response. By now Anju was furious. "Answer me, goddess damn you! You little cretin!" She screamed. Suddenly, the imp grabbed her and shoved her and Bob into the hole. Bob fluttered madly. Anju grabbed onto him and floated down safetly, screaming bloody murder all the way. The imp was standing over the hole, laughing. Anju said a silent prayer to Din. She floated down and down holding onto Bob for a long time. "Hold on, Bob!" She said. She looked down, and saw what she thought was water, but she wasn't sure. Then, after she got closer, she was sure it was water. She landed in it, soaked. She held onto Bob. The water surged, rushing her forward with the current. After a while, she stopped suddenly. She looked around.

She was in some sort of mill. She saw steps, and climbed up them, still holding onto Bob, who was now soaking wet. Anju was also soaked from head to toe. Anju looked around, and sighed. "Wonderful," she said. "Now where am I?" She climbed up some more steps. She was amazed. She wasn't in the Lost Woods anymore. She was in a... well, it looked like a water mill. Was she in the well underneath Kakariko?   
She sure as hell hoped not. "Anything but that," she said to herself. She got trapped in the well when she was 5 once. Her grandfather, Tortus, came down and rescued her. Tortus now worked at an observatory down by Lake Hylia. It was horrible: She was chased by a ReDead, but her grandfather came down with a spear and impaled it and saved her life, and carried her out of the well, to the applause of the townsfolk.

She saw a double door right in front of her. Dare she open it? "I have no choice," She said to herself.

She went to the doors, took a deep breath, and pushed them open.


	3. Seeing Double

**The Moon's Mask: The Cucco Lady's Story**

**CHAPTER III: Seeing Double**

**note: I will be reffering to The Cucco Lady as such from when she meets Parrelell Anju up to the end of the whole story, to prevent confusion.**

Anju pushed open the double doors, and gasped. She was staring at a bustling town. She turned around, and looked up.

She had just walked outof a giant clock tower! She slowly walked around town, still soaking wet.   
She looked up at the sky, and screamed. 

The moon was so huge! And it had a face... an extreamly ugly face. She held onto Bob very tightly as she trotted through the streets. She stopped to ask a guard "Where am I?" The guard looked at her funny. "Why, Anju, you're in East Clock Town. I thought you knew that." Anju looked at him. "How did you know my name?" She demanded crossly. The guard moved his eyes from side to side. "Uh... because you work at the Stock Pot Inn. Are you feeling alright? You're soaking wet, and you have a cuccoo in your arms. You seem dazed too." He asked. Anju gulped, and walked away. "No, I'll be fine," she told the guard. She saw a sign that said, "STOCK POT INN".

She took a deep, deep breath, and walked inside.

And promptly fainted after she saw that a woman who looked identical to her was standing behind the check-in desk.

When she woke up, she was being fanned by a heavyset woman in a green sweater. "Wake up. Wake up." She said. She looked around. She was laying on a bed. She turned, and saw...

herself. Laying on a nearby bed. Or, a woman who looked like herself. EXACTLY like herself. They even had the same clothes on! She scrambled to the back of the bed, trembling. "I don't know what is going on, either. I'm in shock too. There are two of you! Two Anju's! Two of my daughters! I feel faint..." She started fanning herself, then proceeded in fanning the 'other Anju'. She turned to her. "Who are you? How did you get here?" The Cuccoo Lady explained to the woman in the green sweater her confusing tale. By now the lady was beet red and sitting in a chair, fanning herself. Just then, Anju woke up. She did the exact same thing the Cucco Lady did when she woke up: she screamed, and backed up into the bedpost, screaming. "NO! It's... me! What's going on!" She screamed. Again, the Cucco Lady explained her tale.

By now, both Anju and the lady in the green sweater were fanning themselves, turning beet red and hyperventalating from shock and disbelief. "Well... I am Anju. Anju Marrie Stocker." The cuccoo lady gasped. They had the same names! "Mine too! But you can call me 'The Cuccoo Lady'. Everybody does." She said. The lady in the green sweater looked at the cuccoo lady and said "Now, I find this very hard to believe, but... still... you ARE sitting here in front of me, and I suppose that's proof enough. I am Anju's mother." She shook the cuccoo lady's hand. "My, my, your clothes are soaked. Let's get you some new ones, shall we?" She said. She opened a closet to reveal a wardrobe full of Anju's clothes. She handed her some. Then she showed her where the bath was. "Now, you take a nice long bath, and we will figure out what to do from there." She handed her towels and closed the door.

The Cuccoo Lady stayed in the bathtub for a while, thinking. Her husband would without a doubt be worried sick. She put her face in her hands, and wept. Where was she? How did she get here? Could she get back home? Then she remembered the imp. "If I ever get my hands on that little demon... I'll wring his goddamn neck!" The Cucco Lady gritted her teeth. All of a sudden, a head burst out of the tub right in front of her. She screamed.

It was the head of the freaky little imp with the horrifying mask on. She brought her hand back and hit him. He fell to the other side of the tub. The cuccoo lady picked up the shampoo and smacked him over the head with it. "Help! Help!" she shrieked. Suddenly, the door burst open. Anju's mother walked in. The cucco lady was screaming. 

The imp had vanished. "What is going on in here?" Anju's mother asked. The cucco lady blushed. "umm... nothing. I fell asleep." Anju's mother nodded, and stepped out, closing the door.   
Did she just fall asleep? Or did she see the little imp in front of her?  
She sighed, and stepped out of the tub. She dried herself, put her clothes on, then looked at the mirror. And screamed yet again.

For the mirror said:

**COME AND GET ME, BITCH! **

Well, like it? lol please review! Please? If you liked it, then tell me!

The next chapter is called: You Drive Me Crazy. It'll be the longest.


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